Go to page

Hi, I would like to know about the job situation for the NYC and tri-state area. I have a few friends who are recent PharmD graduates and some of them have been having a really hard time finding work as new grads, especially in hospital pharmacy. This comes as a surprise because only a few years ago new grads were getting accepted with far fewer problems and now everyone wants someone with at least 1-3 years of Pharmacist experience if not more to even be considered for an interview. Kinda of a chicken and egg problem... how are you going to get that experience in the first place if barely anyone's accepting new grads ?

So really my question is... is the job situation going to get better any time soon, and what should a new grad with little experience do in order to get a position around the NY and tri-state area?

retail in nyc and northern nj is saturated. you are only going to get hired if you already work for cvs and walgreens because they put in time and energy into their interns, and the interns put time and energy into cvs and walgreens, so they hire their interns first.

i know one hospital that is hiring, new york presbyterian columbia. i don't know any others--i simply don't know.

the gauranteed way to get a hospital job--do 1 year of residency. it is the equivalent of 5 years of hospital experience. then you can get a hospital job, start at a rate of 5 years experience, and its easier to move into clinical manager positions.

pharmacy jobs other than retail are out there--its just that you have to look, and ask people. networking. connections. thats what it is.

retail in nyc and northern nj is saturated. you are only going to get hired if you already work for cvs and walgreens because they put in time and energy into their interns, and the interns put time and energy into cvs and walgreens, so they hire their interns first.

the gauranteed way to get a hospital job--do 1 year of residency. it is the equivalent of 5 years of hospital experience. then you can get a hospital job, start at a rate of 5 years experience, and its easier to move into clinical manager positions.

So what happens to you if you do not have intern experience at those big chains and it is already too late to get into a residency, ie you already graduated and have been out of the school/rotations loop for a while?

Senior Member

So what happens to you if you do not have intern experience at those big chains and it is already too late to get into a residency, ie you already graduated and have been out of the school/rotations loop for a while?

Retired

So what happens to you if you do not have intern experience at those big chains and it is already too late to get into a residency, ie you already graduated and have been out of the school/rotations loop for a while?

Don't worry. You're a highly educated and coveted freshly minted PharmD. Everyone should bow as you walk the street. How dare they not hire you on the spot!!!!

Kind of like a seagull; I swoop in, make a lot of noise and **** everywhere, then leave. They're usually pretty excited to see me go. I'm always sure to stop by and say hi to all of the pretty nurses and flash my fancy vendor bracelet at them. Usually makes for fun small talk in the elevators.

scrounging for scraps

in the northeast the only way that the words shortage and pharmacists will ever belong in the same sentence comes to mind when you talk about the shortage of jobs that's available. And with all the schools in the immediate area pumping out new grads like there's no tomorrow, it doesn't appear to change anytime soon

scrounging for scraps

So what happens to you if you do not have intern experience at those big chains and it is already too late to get into a residency, ie you already graduated and have been out of the school/rotations loop for a while?

There's not much you can do besides hoping you'll land something before the student loan grace period ends (if one has them). i mean its honestly a sad situation, when these new pharmacy grads first entered school, they were painted a picture that they'll make all this money when they graduate and that there will be plenty of jobs available for the picking. Well, there goes that idea

imagine sisyphus happy

do 1 year of residency. it is the equivalent of 5 years of hospital experience. then you can get a hospital job, start at a rate of 5 years experience, and its easier to move into clinical manager positions.

custodiunt illud simplex

the gauranteed way to get a hospital job--do 1 year of residency. it is the equivalent of 5 years of hospital experience. then you can get a hospital job, start at a rate of 5 years experience, and its easier to move into clinical manager positions.

One of the biggest misstatements every told. One year of residency is equal to one year of experience. Before the money making scheme of residencies came alone new graduates got a job at a hospital and were trained on the job at full salary. Today they are hired, opps I mean do a residency, are paid 1/3 the salary of a full time pharmacist and are trained on the job. It's a scam I tell ya a scam!

It works out great for the hospitals. They get a pharmacist at 1/3 the cost. A sweet deal....

That's irrelevant what anyone thinks. As long as the hiring supervisor believes one year of residency is equal to 3 to 5 years of staff pharmacist experience, that perception is the reality and that's what counts.

Before the money making scheme of residencies came alone new graduates got a job at a hospital and were trained on the job at full salary. Today they are hired, opps I mean do a residency, are paid 1/3 the salary of a full time pharmacist and are trained on the job. It's a scam I tell ya a scam!

Actually, % of resident's salary is subsidized by the CMS...so hospitals pay even less than you think. However, there's a lot more to what residents do than provide low cost labor, at least if it's done correctly.

It works out great for the hospitals. They get a pharmacist at 1/3 the cost. A sweet deal....

It aint a walk in the park setting up and running a pharmacy residency.

Kind of like a seagull; I swoop in, make a lot of noise and **** everywhere, then leave. They're usually pretty excited to see me go. I'm always sure to stop by and say hi to all of the pretty nurses and flash my fancy vendor bracelet at them. Usually makes for fun small talk in the elevators.

imagine sisyphus happy

That's irrelevant what anyone thinks. As long as the hiring supervisor believes one year of residency is equal to 3 to 5 years of staff pharmacist experience, that perception is the reality and that's what counts.

Kind of like a seagull; I swoop in, make a lot of noise and **** everywhere, then leave. They're usually pretty excited to see me go. I'm always sure to stop by and say hi to all of the pretty nurses and flash my fancy vendor bracelet at them. Usually makes for fun small talk in the elevators.

Being one of those tag-a-longs on medicine rounds...hell nah, I'd be useless. I'd be better off doing a residency for that.

Being a staffer than can deal with the stresses and madness in a busy hot seat...hell yeah, I'm way better prepared for that. It is what I do. And all I do. It's my specialty.

And 1=3 is just stupid...an arbitrary number invented by some dude who I'm sure profits from the system. However, I know for a FACT that UMPC considers 1 year of residency = 2 years of general staff experience. Just look at their job descriptions. I suppose that's fair being as though they work more hours during that one year.

Retired

It's all a moot point. Many in the position of hiring are more and more residency trained which means they will favor residency trained pharmacists. I remember the years when I would beg and plead retail pharmacists to come work for me... and there were times when I was a DOP at a 200 bed hospital and I only had 3 full time pharmacists including me... I worked every other weekend..staffing and directing all the time.

Those days are long gone where resume from retail pharmacists are now just tossed away... residency on the resume gets attention and long working history at a hospital gets attention. And hiring DOPs are getting picky.

Kind of like a seagull; I swoop in, make a lot of noise and **** everywhere, then leave. They're usually pretty excited to see me go. I'm always sure to stop by and say hi to all of the pretty nurses and flash my fancy vendor bracelet at them. Usually makes for fun small talk in the elevators.

retail in nyc and northern nj is saturated. you are only going to get hired if you already work for cvs and walgreens because they put in time and energy into their interns, and the interns put time and energy into cvs and walgreens, so they hire their interns first.

i know one hospital that is hiring, new york presbyterian columbia. i don't know any others--i simply don't know.

the gauranteed way to get a hospital job--do 1 year of residency. it is the equivalent of 5 years of hospital experience. then you can get a hospital job, start at a rate of 5 years experience, and its easier to move into clinical manager positions.

pharmacy jobs other than retail are out there--its just that you have to look, and ask people. networking. connections. thats what it is.

all WRONG information. this is coming from a pharmacy student who isnt a pharmacist working.

1.) a residency does NOT guarantee you a hospital job. many residents are scrambling for anything

2.) hospitals do not fast forward salaries by 5 yrs for 1 yr of residency. it is 1 year of pharmacist experience. it may be like nice, you did a residency but in no way do they consider it advanced experience, UNLESS it is a really bad hospital or has bad management issues where employees keep quitting. then they need to entice you. overall it is not approached as a 5 yr fast forward as people claim on the internet.

3.) CVS and walgreens have told their interns they CANNOT guarantee a job locally, BUT if you relocated to east-bum-**** they will put you in a retail job.

Thanks for the feedback guys, especially the experienced pharmacists out there - whether its positive or negative feedback, it's still an eye opener. Yes a lot of us in pharmacy school joined during a time when it was much easier to get a job and the companies and hospitals seemed like they would be "fighting over us" (overblown way of saying it, but at least it was much better out there just a few years ago). Seems that time has passed and it's really rough out there right now.

Senior Member

The key is to get as much experience as possible. However like other posters says, a company/hospital will hire their own over an outsider. There is less training involve (training a RPH cost a lot of money and manpower) plus they dont have to gamble if a person is right fit or not for the job.

No sacrifice - No victory

(1) Resident year > (1) year of staffing... Even the "easy" residencies i've seen work their residents to the bone. Anyone arguing this point works in a chain.

Now... Does one year equal 3 or 5... that is certainly open for debate. Mikey, your perspective is skewed because you relate the world to your own perspective (which again, is skewed). Your too-smart-for-your-own-good persona likely gleamed a lot more than the average pharmacist in that one year of staffing. I would imagine the same is true for mountain...

I cannot stand the complaining about the job market though... Having to be qualified for a job over your peers doesn't constitute a bad market.

(1) Resident year > (1) year of staffing... Even the "easy" residencies i've seen work their residents to the bone. Anyone arguing this point works in a chain.

Now... Does one year equal 3 or 5... that is certainly open for debate. Mikey, your perspective is skewed because you relate the world to your own perspective (which again, is skewed). Your too-smart-for-your-own-good persona likely gleamed a lot more than the average pharmacist in that one year of staffing. I would imagine the same is true for mountain...

I cannot stand the complaining about the job market though... Having to be qualified for a job over your peers doesn't constitute a bad market.

Membership Revoked

in the northeast the only way that the words shortage and pharmacists will ever belong in the same sentence comes to mind when you talk about the shortage of jobs that's available. And with all the schools in the immediate area pumping out new grads like there's no tomorrow, it doesn't appear to change anytime soon

Rated Rx Superstar

Hi, I would like to know about the job situation for the NYC and tri-state area. I have a few friends who are recent PharmD graduates and some of them have been having a really hard time finding work as new grads, especially in hospital pharmacy. This comes as a surprise because only a few years ago new grads were getting accepted with far fewer problems and now everyone wants someone with at least 1-3 years of Pharmacist experience if not more to even be considered for an interview. Kinda of a chicken and egg problem... how are you going to get that experience in the first place if barely anyone's accepting new grads ?

So really my question is... is the job situation going to get better any time soon, and what should a new grad with little experience do in order to get a position around the NY and tri-state area?

If you want a job, you could always apply to work for the Buffalo Sabres. You could teach them how to properly handle and pass a puck. Or you could teach them that there are 3 periods in a hockey game. God knows whoever taught them in the past did a terrible job. Christ, that third period was brutal.

If you want a job, you could always apply to work for the Buffalo Sabres. You could teach them how to properly handle and pass a puck. Or you could teach them that there are 3 periods in a hockey game. God knows whoever taught them in the past did a terrible job. Christ, that third period was brutal.

Agreed. This is just my perspective as someone graduating in 2 weeks, but I don't think the situation is as saturated as everyone makes it sound. I don't know how the market is anywhere other than CT, but most people in my class were able to get jobs. Most of them had to sacrifice something (location, having a home store in retail, etc) but they got good jobs.

Even if it is saturated, I think it is a good thing for a field like pharmacy. Competition means better candidates get jobs and will likely do a better job. Students will have to try harder in school to be better candidates and better pharmacists. This is a good thing for our patients.

Agreed. This is just my perspective as someone graduating in 2 weeks, but I don't think the situation is as saturated as everyone makes it sound. I don't know how the market is anywhere other than CT, but most people in my class were able to get jobs. Most of them had to sacrifice something (location, having a home store in retail, etc) but they got good jobs.

Even if it is saturated, I think it is a good thing for a field like pharmacy. Competition means better candidates get jobs and will likely do a better job. Students will have to try harder in school to be better candidates and better pharmacists. This is a good thing for our patients.

maybe you are not familiar with the idea of supply and demand. why pay 1 pharmacist 100k when in a saturated market where people can't find jobs, you can lowball 2 of them for 70k and get 2 pharmacists for 140k? Even better drop salaries a few times and then get 2 for cheaper than that.

A surplus is a BAD thing for the worker BUT GREAT FOR CORPORATE because they can abuse workers and know that the workers will deal with it because there isnt another option out there.

Senior Member

Agreed. This is just my perspective as someone graduating in 2 weeks, but I don't think the situation is as saturated as everyone makes it sound. I don't know how the market is anywhere other than CT, but most people in my class were able to get jobs. Most of them had to sacrifice something (location, having a home store in retail, etc) but they got good jobs.

Even if it is saturated, I think it is a good thing for a field like pharmacy. Competition means better candidates get jobs and will likely do a better job. Students will have to try harder in school to be better candidates and better pharmacists. This is a good thing for our patients.

Compete for a job? Better for our patients? How so. I never knew that CVS hired people based on GPA.

On the other hand, I know at least 10 RPH fired in my region in the last year for things such as not verifying fast enough. I never knew that verifying 60 prescriptions in 60 mins while doing other things is a good thing for our patients.

The stupidity of current pharmacy students sometimes amazes me... another reason why I gave up a while ago.

En Taro Adun

Compete for a job? Better for our patients? How so. I never knew that CVS hired people based on GPA.

On the other hand, I know at least 10 RPH fired in my region in the last year for things such as not verifying fast enough. I never knew that verifying 60 prescriptions in 60 mins while doing other things is a good thing for our patients.

The stupidity of current pharmacy students sometimes amazes me... another reason why I gave up a while ago.

Yeah, from what I heard once you start verifying more than 16 scripts/hour, it becomes unsafe.

Oh yeah, the guy who thinks competition is good for pharmacy... are you ****ing ******ed? Competition = not everyone gets a job, *******. Your performance on the NAPLEX and in pharmacy school should have no influence on how good of a job you get.

No sacrifice - No victory

maybe you are not familiar with the idea of supply and demand. why pay 1 pharmacist 100k when in a saturated market where people can't find jobs, you can lowball 2 of them for 70k and get 2 pharmacists for 140k? Even better drop salaries a few times and then get 2 for cheaper than that.

A surplus is a BAD thing for the worker BUT GREAT FOR CORPORATE because they can abuse workers and know that the workers will deal with it because there isnt another option out there.

I'm pretty much set on moving to Texas. My mom is the biggest problem though for moving. She says that I have to stay in the same city as her, my response is for her to move to Texas with me. (Indian parents DO NOT LET GO, EVER. My mom, my grandparents and my aunt and uncles all live within a 20 mile radius of each other.)

What I love about Texas:

Salary is pretty much the same as NYC. 5 bedroom house with 2+ acres of land, easily under 300K. Speed limit is 80 (awesome), gun laws are very lax (awesome), and the best part, Castle Law (your house is your castle, you can do whatever the **** you want to an intruder).

However, I will miss being able to go to a Mets game or Jets game on a whim, and I will miss the snowy weather. (I guess I could drive to Colorado if I wanna go skiing or whatnot.)

Listen son - I cut my teeth in the Corps for five years before going to college. I have more life experience in my pinky toe then you've gleamed from your single wasted year of residency.

Get a job, stop whining about the job market... Better hurry up though, cause you've got a lot of "over educated, under experienced" peers coming out of school. If you haven't figured it out yet - we're a lot more motivated than you.

I really don't post on this site very much but some of these posts are completely pathetic. I think its sad that you have a bunch of "experienced pharmacists" trying to de-motivate a bunch of students who have been bustin their a** in school. And whats even sadder is that every time someone tries to maintain a positive outlook on the future or the market, you get a bunch of clowns trying to bring him/her down with their negativity. I know a bunch of pharmacists who live in NYC and they don't complain as much as the ppl on this forum, and they ALL HAVE JOBS. And by the way, just because you are a pharmacist, it doesn't give you the right to degrade others and tell them that they "do not know about life and about work." In case you didn't notice, you are just a random person on the internet so stop bringing ppl down with your pointless negativity. For all the hard working positive ppl on this site, keep it up. And for all you other miserable ppl, get a life and quit b'chin about random nonsense.

I really don't post on this site very much but some of these posts are completely pathetic. I think its sad that you have a bunch of "experienced pharmacists" trying to de-motivate a bunch of students who have been bustin their a** in school. And whats even sadder is that every time someone tries to maintain a positive outlook on the future or the market, you get a bunch of clowns trying to bring him/her down with their negativity. I know a bunch of pharmacists who live in NYC and they don't complain as much as the ppl on this forum, and they ALL HAVE JOBS. And by the way, just because you are a pharmacist, it doesn't give you the right to degrade others and tell them that they "do not know about life and about work." In case you didn't notice, you are just a random person on the internet so stop bringing ppl down with your pointless negativity. For all the hard working positive ppl on this site, keep it up. And for all you other miserable ppl, get a life and quit b'chin about random nonsense.

Is this when you realize you shouldn't have listened to the people that told you having a 2.5 in pharmacy school is going to get you the same jobs as a 4.0? I would assume a job saturation would raise the bar not only in terms of experience but also of grades, accolades, etc?

Retired

Is this when you realize you shouldn't have listened to the people that told you having a 2.5 in pharmacy school is going to get you the same jobs as a 4.0? I would assume a job saturation would raise the bar not only in terms of experience but also of grades, accolades, etc?

That being said, don't ever believe you're going to get a better job because you have a 4.0 over students with 2.5. Granted, higher GPA may help landing you a residency, but in over 10 years of hiring pharmacists, I have never ever asked for their GPA.

Now go study some.

Kind of like a seagull; I swoop in, make a lot of noise and **** everywhere, then leave. They're usually pretty excited to see me go. I'm always sure to stop by and say hi to all of the pretty nurses and flash my fancy vendor bracelet at them. Usually makes for fun small talk in the elevators.

I really don't post on this site very much but some of these posts are completely pathetic. I think its sad that you have a bunch of "experienced pharmacists" trying to de-motivate a bunch of students who have been bustin their a** in school. And whats even sadder is that every time someone tries to maintain a positive outlook on the future or the market, you get a bunch of clowns trying to bring him/her down with their negativity. I know a bunch of pharmacists who live in NYC and they don't complain as much as the ppl on this forum, and they ALL HAVE JOBS. And by the way, just because you are a pharmacist, it doesn't give you the right to degrade others and tell them that they "do not know about life and about work." In case you didn't notice, you are just a random person on the internet so stop bringing ppl down with your pointless negativity. For all the hard working positive ppl on this site, keep it up. And for all you other miserable ppl, get a life and quit b'chin about random nonsense.

custodiunt illud simplex

I really don't post on this site very much but some of these posts are completely pathetic. I think its sad that you have a bunch of "experienced pharmacists" trying to de-motivate a bunch of students who have been bustin their a** in school. And whats even sadder is that every time someone tries to maintain a positive outlook on the future or the market, you get a bunch of clowns trying to bring him/her down with their negativity. I know a bunch of pharmacists who live in NYC and they don't complain as much as the ppl on this forum, and they ALL HAVE JOBS. And by the way, just because you are a pharmacist, it doesn't give you the right to degrade others and tell them that they "do not know about life and about work." In case you didn't notice, you are just a random person on the internet so stop bringing ppl down with your pointless negativity. For all the hard working positive ppl on this site, keep it up. And for all you other miserable ppl, get a life and quit b'chin about random nonsense.

A great example of the random, useless and pathetic posts you speak of. You are also just a random person posting crap on the Internet. Everyone has an opinion be it positive or negative based on his or her experiences. Believe whatever you want. You're a pre-pharmacy student so you know everything there is to know about being a pharmacist anyway. Discounting someone's experiences because you don't like or agree with them or they are negative in your estimation is foolish and naive. You are a student so being foolish and naive is a familiar place for you.

That being said, don't ever believe you're going to get a better job because you have a 4.0 over students with 2.5. Granted, higher GPA may help landing you a residency, but in over 10 years of hiring pharmacists, I have never ever asked for their GPA.

Right, I'm sure there's no correlation. I'm surprised they even have grades. If only they could see how much knowledge and great intentions all the 2.5ers had and what mean world of warcraft player you are. Meritocracy is so yesterday in the Obamana Republic.

I really don't post on this site very much but some of these posts are completely pathetic. I think its sad that you have a bunch of "experienced pharmacists" trying to de-motivate a bunch of students who have been bustin their a** in school. And whats even sadder is that every time someone tries to maintain a positive outlook on the future or the market, you get a bunch of clowns trying to bring him/her down with their negativity. I know a bunch of pharmacists who live in NYC and they don't complain as much as the ppl on this forum, and they ALL HAVE JOBS. And by the way, just because you are a pharmacist, it doesn't give you the right to degrade others and tell them that they "do not know about life and about work." In case you didn't notice, you are just a random person on the internet so stop bringing ppl down with your pointless negativity. For all the hard working positive ppl on this site, keep it up. And for all you other miserable ppl, get a life and quit b'chin about random nonsense.

As a pre-pharmacy or pharmacy student you are experienced in the classes you took in high school, the classes you took so far in college, what you did last night and the day before. You are experienced in what you like on your hamburgers and hot dogs. However, once again YOU as a pre-pharmacy or pharmacy student are not experienced in working as a pharmacist. I don't think anyone working as a pharmacist is trying to bring you down. What they are telling you is that it is not a bed of roses. They are telling you that working for a large chain and being the only pharmacist there and verifying 400 or 500 rxs in 12 hours among all the other duties is horrible. They are telling you about their life experiences in the field. The profession has changed tremendously. A surplus is coming whether you like it or not. i talked to a company rep the other day that hired pharms for non-retail positions in a southern state that is supposed to have a shortage of pharms that got 400 applications.(by the way QPA's and test scores were irrelevant as was the common battle cry of being the best and having the professors know you) Perhaps there is not enough said about the positive aspects of helping people and the life long friendships you form from your job. There are many other positive things also. Learn from the people that post here that live the job everyday rather than someone who read about it in a book. i am not a nuclear physicist and would be a fool to tell them about their profession and the work they have to do. So why do students rant and rave about something they know nothing about??? Graduate, do the job and then post about it until then.... learn from those who have done it.

agreed. some people don't even study but they can b.s. test questions like crazy and get 100 while other people put in all their effort into studying and they end up class ave. I don't think GPA has any correlation to how good of a worker you are (more like extracurriculars should matter)

Anyway It doesn't matter. People who think that GPA will matter in retail are just ****ing ******ed.

Case and point:

Retail companies aren't paying big bucks because they want to....they have to right now in order to keep you from going to another company that is paying better. Now pretend 20 pharmacists are competing for one job: retails (that cares about making a profit) will just go for the person that has good interview skills and wouldn't mind being paid less. They aren't going to look at your GPA.

On a side note, I know someone who graduated from my school who was on dean's list like every year. She worked as a pharmacist when I was interning at a retail joint. She would take forever to verify presciptions....she wanted to make sure it was correct but there would always be line and customers would complain.....Anyways...if there is a surplus, corporate isn't going to keep these people. Why hire someone who is only filling 16 RX an hour when they can find someone who fills 40 RX an hour?

sad but true. Over saturation can be a negative in our field which requires accuracy and attention to detail.